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Man accused of cheating more than 500 victims of $400,000 via Carousell

Screengrabs of the Carousell listings (PHOTO: Singapore Police Force)
Screengrabs of the Carousell listings (PHOTO: Singapore Police Force)

SINGAPORE — A man accused of cheating more than 500 victims of more than $400,000 over the sale of gaming chairs, gaming consoles, and electronic lifestyle products was charged in court on Tuesday (19 October).

Edwin Chia Han Hua, a 25-year-old Singaporean, was handed one charge involving 10 victims, whom he allegedly cheated between 2 June and 30 September this year.

He is said to have deceived the victims into believing that he had Secretlab chairs, Nintendo Switches, an Apple iPhone, an Apple Watch, a VR headset and two PlayStation 5 consoles, inducing the victims into transferring him $11,827 for the products.

While the charge sheet did not state how Chia carried out the alleged cheating, a press release said that the Singapore Police Force received several reports from victims who were purportedly cheated via e-commerce platform Carousell in October. After the victims made payments via bank transfers and PayNow, they failed to receive their purchases, the press release added.

It added that preliminary investigations revealed that Chia allegedly scammed more than 500 victims of more than $400,000. The court heard during Chia's hearing that he allegedly laundered the monies through more than four bank accounts.

The police arrested Chia after follow up investigations and collaborating with Carousell.

Chia will return to court on 16 November.

If convicted of cheating, Chia faces a jail term of up to 10 years, and may also be fined.

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